A Pressing Question of the Times: What will it Take to Save our Birds?

This is the introduction to “A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds,” our book on the dramatic, experimental and sometimes treacherous work to halt the decline of bird populations. We’re republishing this opening chapter in its entirety, with thanks to Simon & Schuster, to give you a running start into the stories of the researchers, wildlife officers, farmers, birders, hunters and philanthropists who are part of one of the great untold tales of environmental ingenuity.

“There he is,” someone shouts, and sure enough the tiny sharp beak of Florida Grasshopper Sparrow  No. 2050176 pokes out from behind a clump of wiregrass. Ever so slowly, the bird steps forward until he reaches the ledge of the giant mobile cage where he spent the past day getting ready for the mission ahead. Hatched in captivity and raised for this very moment, the bird woke up to something he’s never seen before: The enclosure’s front metal wall is gone and an ocean of Central Florida grassland is spread out before him.

A handful of researchers watch crouched in the surrounding field, barely breathing as they wait to see if twenty years of research and experimentation will pay off. A full minute, then another tick by while the small brown bird, its spindly pink legs ringed with ID bands, just stands there. At last the sparrow makes his move. He half flies, half dives off the ledge into the wild in what everyone hopes will be the first step in rebuilding the continent’s most endangered bird.

At the other end of the country, a foot-and-a-half-tall California Spotted Owl is planted on her nest on a jagged, broken branch in the most remote corner of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. This is rugged country, filled with six varieties of towering pines and canyons carved out by a half dozen rivers, punctuated by giant boulders left scattered by glaciers four million years ago. The closest roads, more like dirt paths, get almost no traffic. The only sounds many days are chattering jays and juncos and the wind whooshing by at 6,000 feet above sea level. 

Birds are the most visible branch of wildlife, found in every corner of the globe and all too easy to take for granted. We certainly did during our first decade as birders, content to see them as gifts of nature here for our delight. But a series of advances in the science and technology of bird research recently led to a startling discovery. In the past fifty years nearly a third of the bird population in North America has withered away, up against the loss of habitat, shifting climate, and growing hazards of an urban world. 

That translates to three billion birds of all sizes and shapes, in losses stretching from coast to coast, from the Arctic to Antarctica, through forests and grasslands, ranches and farms. As one veteran biologist, John Doresky with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Georgia, told us, “We’re in the emergency room now.”

Birds aren’t alone in facing threats, of course. Deteriorating ecosystems are affecting all manner of wildlife, fish, insects, and plants.Almost no bird species has been spared, from the most delicate jeweled hummingbirds to scrappy black crows, from a rainbow of warblers to such common species as blackbirds, owls, and sparrows. The loss of birds goes hand in hand with the disappearance of the monarch butterfly as well as bees, insects, and other animals crucial to the balance of nature. But people have always had a deep emotional connection with birds—and their woes help us see the broader loss of biodiversity. The story of birds may be the best way to witness close up—even in our neighborhoods and backyards—the results of a natural system badly out of whack.

Birds provide a list of services that benefit people. They are among the environment’s workhorses, pollinating all manner of plant life and acting as nature’s farmers in spreading seeds and fertilizing the land. Birds consume an estimated 400 to 500 million tons of bugs a year—a mind-boggling sum when you consider that typical insects weigh just a milligram or two. They help keep water clean, refresh coral reefs, and maintain the population balances of rodents, worms, and snails. Researchers have discovered that watching birds even relieves stress and improves our mental health.

Now they play a new role: As the temperatures and sea levels are rising, birds are real-time barometers of environmental stability—the modern canaries in the coal mine. While the phenomenon of climate change may be far from home and out of view for parts of the country, the plight of birds is a visceral and concrete reminder of the crisis unfolding right in front of us. In that sense, the birds are talking to us—sending out a plea for help. “Birds are an early warning system that nature has provided us,” said John Fitzpatrick, the director emeritus of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the hemisphere’s most influential voice of behalf of birds. “They’re telling us that we need to look carefully at what’s going on.”

Birds have long been the most durable form of life on earth. They are among its original inhabitants, descendants of dinosaurs, dating back 100 million years. With their ability to fly and to adapt over time, birds managed to live through waves of cataclysmic disruptions on the planet that wiped out countless other wildlife. Some species have always come and gone with the ebbs and flows of nature. But for most of recorded history, the world’s overall bird population remained massive, thought to total hundreds of billions. In North America, as recently as 150 years ago billions of now extinct Passenger Pigeons–the chick of that era–would block out the sun when flocks took off at the same time. Clouds of ducks, wading birds, and seabirds swarmed marshlands, oceans, and islands. Bluebirds, robins, cardinals, and jays provided a reassuring choral soundtrack of nature.

Then, over the past century—the equivalent of yesterday against those millennia—large numbers of bird species began to falter as the environments they rely on changed faster than they could adapt. Some species—notably ducks, geese, vireos, and raptors—did hold their own or even grow, and although scientists have long compiled statistics, they didn’t yet have the means to track overall bird populations with any precision. That changed in 2019 when a group of researchers announced they’d found a way to calculate the total bird population by blending newly released weather radar archives with a half century of field counts that specialists conduct every spring. Their discovery documented the losses that surprised even veterans who’ve spent their careers studying birds. “To see it in a single number was an epiphany,” says Ken Rosenberg, the lead author of the study that came to be called the Three Billion Bird report published in the journal Science. That put the plight of birds at the top of the news with an intensity that had never happened before. Finally, people sat up and took notice.

We Love Birds—Until They Get in Our Way

Our own fascination with birds started a little more than a decade ago while living in Washington, D.C. We were in phase one of retirement, what a friend calls the “Go-Go Years,” preceding the “Slow-Go Years” and the “No-Go Years.” We’d chosen a lifestyle geared to three Bs: birds, books, and banjos, which Anders has played since high school. One afternoon at a campsite in the mountains of Virginia, Anders was tuning his banjo, plucking four notes, pausing, then four notes more. Suddenly a bird started calling back from the woods in the exact same key and rhythm, almost like a pitch pipe. This duet continued long enough to capture the video enshrined on our website.

We’d both had long careers in journalism. Beverly started as a feature writer and editor, then syndicated columnist, restaurant critic, and cookbook author. Anders was a local news and investigative reporter for twenty years before switching to editing and running newsrooms in Raleigh, Minneapolis, Miami, and Washington. We turned to birding as an antidote to city life and soon found ourselves captivated by the simple wonder of birds: the way a male’s feathers transform into vibrant mating plumage in the spring; how birds communicate with songs, chirps, and flips of their wings; the way so many species migrate halfway up and down the hemisphere twice a year guided by the earth’s magnetic pull and maps encoded in their DNA.

We learned to distinguish the subtle differences between an Eastern Phoebe and the Eastern Wood-Pewee. (The phoebe has a dark brownish head; the pewee’s is gray. If you listen carefully, both birds sing their own names.) We slowly made progress by taking photos each day, and at night we flipped through field guides page by page, comparing our birds to the illustrations. That’s how we learned the family groups and similar birds within them—which bird’s bill is orange on the bottom and brown on top, which ones have pink legs. In those days you couldn’t simply upload the photo to a convenient smartphone app that spits out the ID on demand. But looking back, the time we spent poring over the photos gave us an appreciation for these details. It also morphed into a challenging game. We started chasing birds up and down the Atlantic coast on weekends, our mini travel trailer following behind like a leashed puppy.  

As we spent more time in the woods, our fascination veered toward obsession, and we became the butt of family jokes. We also started reading about advances in technology, the evolution of modern research, and how climate change is upending the annual life cycles birds depend on. The more we learned, the more we realized the deep dimensions of the trouble. We started to worry about how this happened and why these stories weren’t being more widely told. When we retired from full-time work a few years ago, we started writing about birds for newspapers and magazines and eventually launched our website, Flying Lessons: What we’re learning from the birds.

We have plenty of company sharing a love of birds. Of all wildlife in the United States, birds attract the largest following. An estimated 50 million people consider themselves birdwatchers, according to a survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Another two million are hunters of waterfowl and other birds, and by paying license fees and taxes on guns and ammunition, they have together built the country’s most successful bird conservation empire. When the first phase of the coronavirus pandemic forced people to stay close to home for months at a time, our ranks swelled as millions more people took up birding. Friends started sending us their bird photos to identify right about the time bird feeder sales skyrocketed and birdseed supplies ran short. Just about every news outlet around the country wrote about the newfound appeal of birding. Our favorite headline came from the online magazine Slate, which declared: “You Have No Choice but to Become a Backyard Birder.”

But that growing appreciation of birds only goes so far. We also got emails and calls from friends asking how to deal with annoying birds at home—House Sparrows belting out a monotonous, irritating, one-note song outside their window or the woodpecker boring a hole in their siding. We reached this unhappy conclusion: Americans love birds—until they get in our way.

That’s partly the inevitable result of a human population that’s more than 130 times larger than when the United States was founded. As the nation boomed, we harvested the bulk of our old-growth forests, plowed up 60 percent of the continent’s grasslands, and drained more than half of our wetlands for homes, farms, and businesses. Along the way, we’ve so altered the landscape for birds and other wildlife that many cannot find enough food, build nests, or raise their young. What would it take to stop these losses—and how much of that are we willing to do? Is it possible for birds and people to share the same habitats?

We realized the best way to understand what’s happening was to go to where the most severe problems are and witness the rescues, research, successes, and failures. These dramatic shifts are a global phenomenon, occurring in similar dimensions around the world.We decided to focus on North America because much of the innovation in research and conservation is happening in the Northern Hemisphere. The plan was to spend a year on the road, mostly living in a twenty-three-foot Airstream. Our model is appropriately called a Flying Cloud, and the trailer makes it possible for us to get up and go wherever the birds are on whatever day that happens to be.

 First, we turned the trailer into a mobile office.The dinette got refashioned into a workspace complete with bookshelves and a nook for the printer. We cleared extra clothes out of overhead bins to make room for stacks of manila file folders and office supplies. By the time we pulled out in January 2021, every square foot was filled, and a cooler in the truck contained enough frozen spaghetti sauce to last for a month.

Some of our friends were dubious about how we’d get along in these cramped living arrangements, but it just suits the two of us. There’s a queen-size bed, walk-in shower, smart TV with surround sound, two heating systems, recessed lighting, a gas stove and oven, floor-to-ceiling pantry, and two bins just for shoes. The best feature is the nearly 360-degree scenic views. “Oh, now I get it,” one friend conceded while taking a tour.

We decided not to mention the inevitable muddy boots, weeks between laundromats, rising before dawn followed by yogurt in the truck, followed by peanut butter sandwiches in the truck, blisters, mosquitoes, ticks, and finally, a dictionary’s worth of bird-related acronyms to decipher. “I feel like we’re learning a foreign language,” Beverly said at one point. We headed first south, stopping in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, then west along the lower half of the country to the Southwest and California and back across the northern half. We also traveled to Hawai‘i and South America.

In all our journey covered 25,000 miles, most of it by road, some by air, and more than we’d anticipated on foot through some of the most beautiful and rugged corners of the hemisphere. Best of all, we came face-to-face with birds of nearly every variety, from the most common to some of the rarest on the planet. Here’s the story they have to tell.

The 10 chapters that follow are a tour of the hemisphere’s often heroic efforts on behalf of birds. The hardcover book, punctuated with photos of the species that are the central characters of this story, is available everywhere from local bookstores to all the digital booksellers. You can download the audio version of the book, narrated by two of the most respected readers, Cassandra Campbell and Stephen Graybill. The book and their readings were singled out by the New York Times Book Review as a “rare and welcome approach for an audiobook.” Here are a selection of the reviews and articles the book has generated, followed by some of the hundreds of comments from readers that have flowed in through Amazon, Google, Goodreads and elsewhere, etc.

What reviewers are saying:

• The New York Times Book Review: Reviewer Sebastian Modak praises the book as one of five favorite new audiobooks in the annual Summer Reading edition. The review notes the “skillful storytelling” and the reading as a “rare and welcome approach for an audiobook that was written in the first-person plural.”
  
• Good Morning America: ABC News’ Will Ganss follows our travels across the hemisphere in a segment that touches on everything from the Ivory-billed Woodpecker saga to the work to use genetics to save birds. “A fascinating story,” decreed Good Morning America.
  
• The Washington Post’s review calls the book a “wake-up call” that presents a comprehensive look at the challenges. “Despite the stakes, “A Wing and a Prayer” is no jeremiad. The authors, retirees, tour the country in their refurbished Airstream and calmly and competently report their observations.”
  
• Star Tribune: “In this five-star journey into our birding history, present and future, the authors make clear that ultimately, it’s up to us — you and me — to care and to act.”
  
• Here and Now: An interview with National Public Radio’s Robin Young takes a rapid-fire tour of the best stories in the book. Here’s the transcript.
  
• Los Angeles Public Radio with host Larry Mantle. The long-time radio host of “Airtalk” talks with us about “A Wing and a Prayer” and walks through the many bird rescue projects unfolding in California. Here’s a link to the interview.
  
• Miami Public Radio’s Sundial: “The book is a warning. Call it a canary in a coal mine. It’s also a guide to what we can do to help — we, as citizens, but also we as a country.” Here’s a transcript of the hour-long interview with host Carlos Frias.
  
• Wisconsin Public Radio: “A fascinating book. I was fascinated by the different technologies that people are using to address problems with birds. ” Here’s the transcript of a conversation with host Larry Meiller.
  
• The News & Observer: “The writing about bird science is clear and accessible, and the descriptions of some of the birding forays are so engaging they’ll have readers downloading that free Merlin app and making an account on ebird.org to tally the species they see with their own eyes.” Here’s a link to the deep, thorough back story of how the book came together. It also includes a compendium of the scores of rescue missions featured in the book.
  
• Publishers Weekly: “Readers looking for signs of hope will find some in the eclectic measures described, which showcase the remarkable ingenuity of those working to save the birds—one couple, for instance, developed a device that identifies the species of birds in the area by analyzing birdsongs and sends the data to Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology. Birders will be unsettled, and by the end, inspired.”
  
• O.Henry Magazine: “If you care about the birds in your midst — those in plain sight as well as those not so easy to see — A Wing and a Prayer is a must read.”
  
• Revelator digital magazine: “Three Billion Birds Lost: What will it take to halt the staggering declines.’‘ An interview with Tara Lohan, deputy editor of the Revelator.
  
• The Bird Podcast: A discussion with Shoba Narayan, an India-based author whose work takes an international perspective on birds.
  
• Kirkus Reviews: “Passionate reportage from the world of birds and a cautionary tale for the future of Earth.”
  
• Audiofile Magazine: Praise for both the book’s “engaging narrative” and the “forthright performance” in the audio readings by Stephen Graybill and Casandra Campbell as they alternate chapters.
  
• Booklist: “Written partially as a travelogue as the authors journeyed thousands of miles by road around the continent, the combination of personal story and scientific reportage is compelling.”
  
• Living Bird Magazine: “The science can guide us; the magic resides in the conservation commitment of each of us.” — An article in the August edition of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s magazine in a piece by former top Interior Department deputy secretary Lynn Scarlett.

What readers are saying:

Fascinating look at both the big picture and very specific aspects of the bird loss

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reviewed on Goodreads website by J. Earl on April 12, 2023

A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds by Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal is a fascinating look at both the big picture and the very specific aspects of just how great the loss of bird population is.

I think what makes this particularly effective is the very personal nature of the book while also being about the larger problem(s). So often, when numbers are staggeringly large, it is easy to be moved but also paralyzed by the very enormity of the number. While the Gyllenhaal’s give us those numbers, they are delivered with their personal journey to observe people taking very real action to try to reverse this trend. Coupled with additional cases where situations have been at least stalled and possibly reversed, we learn both the enormity as well as how we can do something.

The last chapter about things we can do offer the reader very workable ideas, which may well generate additional ideas in the reader, so this is valuable beyond simply being some casual “we can do it” pep talk.

I would recommend this to anyone concerned with what is happening to the environment in which we live, well, at least until we either finish destroying it or reverse course. Those coming primarily for the science read may well be motivated to find ways to help, even if that mostly consists of spreading the word.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss.

A Wonderfully Engaging Adventure Story about the Race to Save Birds – and how you can help

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reviewed on Amazon by L. Bennett on May 9, 2023

Most people know now that birds across the globe are vanishing from our skies in staggering numbers. Over the last fifty years, one third of the birds of North America alone have disappeared. But how did this happen? And what can we do about it? In this superbly researched and beautifully written book, veteran journalists Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal take us on a fascinating journey to the front lines of the fight to reverse this terrifying trend. During the pandemic, they packed up their Airstream and traveled more than 25,000 miles to interview the scientists and foresters, researchers and farmers who are employing age old practices and fascinating new technology to save the birds. Part thrilling adventure story, part top-notch investigative reporting, along with practical advice about what we can do to help, A WING AND A PRAYER is required reading for anyone who cares about the “canaries in the coal mines” who are warning us of things to come.

A Timely and Important Read for All of Us

Reviewed on Goodreads by AnnieM on April 26, 2023

This is a timely and important read for all of us – I knew the bird population was in trouble but did not know the magnitude of the problem The authors are a journalist couple who toured multiple states in North America as well as Central America (Ecuador most notably because of the large number of bird species) In the past 50 years, nearly one-third of the bird population in North America (which equals an astonishing 3 billion birds) has disappeared due to loss of habitat, invasive predators, urban sprawl and climate change. The authors take an Airstream on the road as they travel to visit different habitats and organizations that are focused on conservation and making experiments to address the root causes of the endangerment of bird species. Organizations are finally recognizing the need to collaborate on solutions and this includes corporations, government, not-for-profit organizations as well as individual birders and communities. Many of the solutions give me some hope — such as “renting” farmers’ land during the migration in the central valley of California or working with ranchers and the military to help protect the habitats of endangered species. The rise of technology has enabled individuals to help track and count birds (citizen research) such as E-Bird and BirdCast Each chapter begins with a beautiful photo of a bird including ones that are most endangered right now including ones that in the past that were considered “common.” (and this is when I finally recognized how big the problem is). The book ends with practical solutions individuals can adopt – and it gave me a lot of ideas of how I can help. The book left me feeling hopeful — it is easier to face the problem when we know the magnitude of it and can take steps to create change. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC and I left this honest review voluntarily.

Reviewed on Amazon by Umit Celebi on May 16, 2023

I did it! This morning, I opened the Merlin Bird ID app, clicked on Sound ID, held my phone out the kitchen window, and made my very first recording. The app identified the birdsong as that of the Northern Cardinal. Though I couldn’t spot it, it was still thrilling to confirm the bird’s existence and present location in Brooklyn, NY. I am hooked.

One of the many important takeaways from A Wing And A Prayer is that anyone can go birding. Of course, authors Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal are far from just “anyone.” Though the subject matter is one they came to in later years, the story-telling skills on display speak of impressive lifelong careers in journalism, editing and writing.

The format is essentially dispatches from the road. In the authors’ case, thousands of miles covered in their Airstream in the lower 48, and a couple of side trips to Hawai’i and Ecuador. It’s detective story, investigative science reporting, exposés of methods of conservation, deep dives into the culture of birdwatching, stunning accompanying photographs, and love letter to nature all rolled into one. Who wouldn’t want to read this?

A breakthrough in the scientific community made possible by surveillance and smartphone technology and weather-tracking data is the story’s catalyst. The collected data point to the inescapable conclusion that three billion birds have died since 1970, with several species having gone extinct and more in danger of becoming so. Though this finding was reported in the mainstream press it didn’t set off the kind of reaction appropriate to its urgency.

The book aims to resuscitate the finding’s importance. The authors have access to some of the most important bird conservation sites and scientists in the United States and from these first-hand visits they document a record of both distress and optimism. Readers will be startled at just how fragile some of the conservation efforts are but will take heart in the promising road ahead, made possible mostly by the fact that smartphone in hand, we can all become citizen scientists and share our data with institutions such as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Two points consistently made an impression on me. The first was that this book is strictly evidence-based. In our apparently “post-truth” world, it was revitalizing to read a book about nature based on Enlightenment values – observation and data analytics. The second is that the authors treasure birds for their own sake. Though the condition of birds often raises red flags for the welfare of humans (“the canary in the coalmine”), this book never justifies the need to conserve and protect birds so that our species can thrive. Here, birds are treasured because they are birds.

Sixty-one years after Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking book, Silent Spring, was published, it’s worth remembering that the title refers to the silencing of birdsong. That book is credited with inspiring the environmental movement. The story of the race to save our vanishing birds, A Wing And A Prayer may similarly rouse the public to act in more decisive ways to preserve this species.

Essential reading for bird lovers and all who care about preserving nature

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reviewed on Amazon on May 8, 2023

I quite like birds but I’m not a serious birder and until recently using the Merlin app was the most engagement I’ve had with our feathered friends. Recently I learned we’ve lost one third of the bird population in North America in less than a single lifetime, and that was very disturbing news. On a friend’s recommendation I got a copy of A Wing and a Prayer and I have to say it’s eye opening – in a positive way. Learning about the tireless champions of bird conservation and the cool modern technologies they deploy is fascinating, and so good to see that their efforts are succeeding.

The Gyllenhaals are engaging writers with a simple and accessible style, and they are quite good storytellers too. The photographs are wonderful; clear and intimate.

Our Birds are in a World of Trouble

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reviewed on Amazon on May 3, 2023

Best bird book I have ever read! The Gyllenhaal’s know their subjects and are leading all levels of bird lovers to join them in the race to save our vanishing birds.

An Absolute must read – there’s still time to save birds

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reviewed by Anniem on April 26, 2023

This is a timely and important read for all of us – I knew the bird population was in trouble but did not know the magnitude of the problem The authors are a journalist couple who toured multiple states in North America as well as Central America (Ecuador most notably because of the large number of bird species) In the past 50 years, nearly one-third of the bird population in North America (which equals an astonishing 3 billion birds) has disappeared due to loss of habitat, invasive predators, urban sprawl and climate change. The authors take an Airstream on the road as they travel to visit different habitats and organizations that are focused on conservation and making experiments to address the root causes of the endangerment of bird species. Organizations are finally recognizing the need to collaborate on solutions and this includes corporations, government, not-for-profit organizations as well as individual birders and communities. Many of the solutions give me some hope — such as “renting” farmers’ land during the migration in the central valley of California or working with ranchers and the military to help protect the habitats of endangered species. The rise of technology has enabled individuals to help track and count birds (citizen research) such as E-Bird and BirdCast Each chapter begins with a beautiful photo of a bird including ones that are most endangered right now including ones that in the past that were considered “common.” (and this is when I finally recognized how big the problem is). The book ends with practical solutions individuals can adopt – and it gave me a lot of ideas of how I can help. The book left me feeling hopeful — it is easier to face the problem when we know the magnitude of it and can take steps to create change. I highly recommend this book.

 “A Wing and a Prayer” is Essential Reading for Bird Lovers & Anyone Concerned About Our Environment

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reviewed by Carolyn Sexton on Amazon on May 23, 2023

My husband, a fellow bird lover, purchased “A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds” as a gift for me. The book written by veteran journalists Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal is an important book for anyone who loves birds and for all those concerned about our environment. I knew that birds were on the decline due to habitat loss, climate change, and urban hazards, but knowing that a full third of North America’s birds have vanished over the past 50 years (with almost no species being spared) was alarming.

The authors travelled more than 25,000 miles, mostly in an airstream trailer to scientifically report on their findings and to explore what is already being done by individuals, scientists, government agencies and conservation organizations to confront this crisis and the successes of those efforts. I found the book to be troubling, but ultimately hopeful, as it lays out in specific terms the concerns and what we can all do to contribute in tangible ways to reverse current trends. A Georgetown scientist is quoted as saying, “If we can save birds, we can save ourselves.”

You don’t have to be a birder to enjoy and appreciate this book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reviewed on Amazon on June 1, 2023

Our bird population has declined by nearly a third in the past 50 years. “A Wing and a Prayer” is an enjoyable and informative look at the many ecosystem services provided by birds, and the potential consequences of their population decline. The authors describe an extremely complex set of problems facing birds in a clear and comprehensible way, whether the reader is a veteran birder or someone who has never paid much attention to birds. The authors have meticulously researched and referenced the roles of economics, politics, land use, climate change, technology and innovation in efforts to slow and stop the the population decline. The authors are master story tellers, and their story reads like a travelogue–a very enjoyable one. Most importantly, they make the case for why we should care about the decline in birds and what we as individuals can do to help.

A Call to Action

Reviewed by Jan on Barnes and Noble website on April 17, 2021

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I live in a suburb on a Great Lake and my sister lives on a farm in south central Wisconsin, so we both were of the opinion that the most major cause of the drastic reduction in songbirds that we observed was due to deadly chemical pollution by farmers and those who want weed-free lawns. We’re not birders, so we have no documentation, but we are each observant septuagenarians who love birdsong. But what these dedicated and committed people from various NGOs as well as government Fish and Wildlife service are doing to identify causes and in some cases bring nearly extinct species back to life is beyond impressive. Habitat often cannot be restored, but it’s destruction can be halted, and sometimes the species might be relocated to a comparable habitat in some small way that helps to improve their numbers. This book details their efforts in a very personal way and should serve as a call to action for each and every one of us. Very impressive!
I requested and received an EARC from Simon & Schuster Publishers via NetGalley. Thank you!
#BringBirdsBack

The wake-up call we all need to hear

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reviewed by Krista K. on Amazon on May 31, 2023

It staggers the imagination, 3 billion birds lost in the span of one lifetime, our lifetime. This is the story that leads the way in Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal’s new book A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save our Vanishing species. Travelling the country towing their Airstream trailer, the authors dig deep into what we can do to reverse this terrible trend – and it’s inspiring. The minds and hearts of so many amazing people working to solve this crisis is really the focus of this book as they highlight new technologies, new community-building efforts restoring habitats that are also providing incomes and even the military getting in on the action. This is the book for the moment and its message is that we can all contribute to making sure we bring our beloved birds back from the brink. I’m in!

This is a great overview

Reviewed on Goodreads by Melody on April 10, 2023

I really enjoyed this book. I’m passionate about conservation (and the environment, in general), but have never had a particular interest in birds. (I don’t dislike them, but if I tried to identify a bird, I’d probably be wrong nine times out of ten.) That said, this was a compelling read.

I definitely prefer some of the conservation efforts to others, but they were all interesting to read about, and the stories of the people involved and the challenges they faced were much more fascinating than I would have expected.

(Side note: I really need for someone – Ann Patchett? – to write a novel about the secret mission to find the ivory-billed woodpecker, ideally with multiple POV characters including at least one expert researcher, a member of their immediate family, and an amateur volunteer.)

I’ll note that I find it a bit sad that humans have created a situation in which high-tech solutions and satellites and banding and further human intervention are possibly the only way to “save” nature, but I’m glad there are thoughtful people trying to make a difference. (I also think it’s worth noting that flying planes to track birds – or traveling to check off a rare bird on a life list – contributes to climate change, which is part of how birds got to where they are right now. While these concerns aren’t raised in this book, hopefully they’re being discussed.)

Overall, I thought this was a great overview of what’s happening in the world of bird conservation. It’s a well-written, compelling read for anyone interested in birds, nature, or environmental issues. Immediately after reading this book, I signed up for action alerts from a number of the organizations highlighted in the book, sent a handful of emails to Congress, and am looking into ways to support native plants locally. I’ve also been taking more notice of birds! Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing an e-galley and the opportunity to review.

Look up and take notes

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Reviewed by Adel on Amazon on June 7, 2023

Amazing how much we take for granted like fact that birds we see all around us are declining at rapid rate due to light pollution and habitat loss etc and so on. Once they are gone they are very very gone though this book describes several species which defy the odds. The authors look at case studies which depict avian plights like restoration projects and the debate over whether the ivory billed woodpecker is extinct. They intersperse science with anecdotal stories that capture the imagination. The balance is harmonic- helping us understand with our head and our hearts.

Must read for bird lovers

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Reviewed by Kathy Hart on Amazon on May 9, 2023

If you love birds, you must read this book! I knew our birds were in decline, but I was shocked at the extent of the loss. Highlighting a variety of species at locations across the U.S. and in South America, the authors describe the causes behind the losses and the efforts to mitigate the decline. While the book clearly offers hope for the future, it reminds us that our birds — the ones we feed, watch, count and house — offer us a visible measure of our environmental health!

Not just the problem, but also hope

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Reviewed on Amazon on May 8, 2023

Beverly and Anders don’t give us only doom and gloom. Through their interviews and research, they offer hope and ways to help. I love the way they combine science with human interest, teaching and revealing through stories. The book is absolutely compelling! Never heard of a grasshopper sparrow? Learn why you should care! And although this is not a “picture book,” the photos that are included are beautiful. I am heartened by all the conservation work that is being done by so many individuals and groups. It gives me hope. Now, let’s just work together!

Fascinating and Hopeful

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Reviewed by Angie on May 10, 2023

Highly recommend this thoroughly-reported, well-written book about an untold story: the vast, passionate effort to save birds. The authors, a married couple with significant journalism careers, traveled 25,000 miles in their Airstream trailer to tell this captivating story, beautifully illustrated with their exquisite photos. They bring to life the dedicated scientists, birding advocates and conservationists who are going to extraordinary lengths to save birds from devastating habitat loss. This remarkable book raises profound questions about where the planet is headed and offers hopeful solutions.

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Not just for bird lovers!

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Reviewed on Amazon by PAG on May 9, 2023

A wonderful account of what’s going on with the birds in our world! A book not just for birders but for anyone who is concerned or interested in nature’s role in the health of our planet. The writing/storytelling is beautiful, the topic is compelling, and the book offers what might/must be done to save the birds, which will ultimately save ourselves. Everyone can find something to enjoy in this lovely book. Highly recommend!

The Authors Shine a Spotlight

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Reviewed on Goodreads by Olive Fellow on May 14, 2023

Many bird species are experiencing a decline in numbers, largely because of human actions. But there are people out there who are stepping in, trying to help. The authors of the book shine a spotlight on them and their stories. This is a little like Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future, bird edition.

Extremely Interesting and very well organized

Reviewed on Goodreads by Lisa Lajma on May 5, 2023

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I found this book extremely interesting and very well organized. The topic of birds and bird conservation is really a niche genre within the non-fiction realm, but I, who have never considered myself a bird lover or bird watcher, was intrigued at the plight of these birds and the sadness I felt when one was taken off the endangered species list because it was officially “extinct.”

I think it is so easy for humans to be dismissive of the dwindling bird population. Even hearing a phrase like “3 billion birds” are gone doesn’t seem like that many (I mean, how many birds in the world are there??)…. But 3 billion of any other species like cats (as an example) would wipe out every domesticated cat (~4million) and then some!

It was also a nice mix of history of birds which have gone extinct and what predecessors did to try and save them vs. current challenges (such as wind turbines) and efforts.

While many times non-fiction books focus on the “what’s wrong” but I found this book had a nice balance of negative truths with positive hopes. There were many examples of how we, as private citizens or government agencies, have seen the writing on the wall and made changes to directly impact birds. I learned a lot about these safety programs and the organizations that are in place to try and save these birds. There was mention of Air Force bases that completely changed their drill schedules to accommodate birds in their migratory patterns; Ducks Unlimited and how they have so many members and so much money to help conserve water fowl habitats; and the Audubon Society.

While, the change needs to be large scale, there are also small “do-able” changes listed in the book that the everyday person could do to help. As an example- “2.6 billion birds are killed by cats every year.” Let me say that again— OVER 2 BILLION BIRDS ARE KILLED BY CATS A YEAR! Keep your cats inside. There are other practical solutions like screens on windows and doors so birds don’t fly into them, etc.

Overall, I thought this was intriguing and while I don’t think I’ll be a bird watcher any more than I am now; I have a much greater appreciation for how birds fit into life and plant cycles and help keep our planet healthy. I would recommend to anyone interested in birds, and conservation.